


Monumental Affection

by acemockingjay



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Explicit Language, Field Trip, M/M, Sexual Content, Washington D.C.
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-09
Updated: 2015-03-09
Packaged: 2018-03-17 02:57:34
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3512636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/acemockingjay/pseuds/acemockingjay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's the senior class field trip to D.C. and Jean couldn't be more excited - it's the perfect time to make a move on Mikasa. However, when he and his new friend, Marco, are forced to share a bed together at the hotel, the infamous Jean "No Homo" Kirschtein may have to rethink that title.<br/>Marco never expected to make any friends on this trip; being in the theater club and also sort of a nerd doesn't really make him friendship material for most. Even so, he finds himself befriending the star of the basketball team, Jean Kirschtein, and the unlikely duo end up sharing a room. There's plenty of space in a single bed for the two of them, right?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Monumental Affection

**Author's Note:**

  * For [giwp](https://archiveofourown.org/users/giwp/gifts).



Jean

“Trost High Senior Class of 2015” read the too-pink shirt in a comic sans font everyone on the bus was required to wear. “This is why you don’t put Springer in charge of anything,” complained Sasha from the front row, “these shirts are terrible.”

“Hey, Braus,” Connie countered from right next to Sasha, “why don’t you shut the hell up and realize my artistic genius?”

“Why don’t you make me?” Sasha replied, scooting even closer to him.

“Okay, I will then,” Connie leaned in, about to make everyone on the bus vomit, when a blur of pink cloth hit him smack in the face. “Hey! Who was that? Someone’s about to get their ass kicked-“

“Oh give it a rest, Springer,” came a voice from the blonde girl in the seat across the aisle, Annie by name, “I don’t think your pretty face wants any of this.” she smiled and made a gesture of punching her open palm with her fist. Connie turned back and looked out the window, obviously pissed off. Mikasa high-fived Annie and the two laughed to themselves. _God, she’s so hot_ , Jean thought to himself. _What I wouldn’t give to just be sitting up there with her, instead of in the middle row_ , he stared at the back of Mikasa’s head, daydreaming, when Annie nudged her and she turned to see him. Mouthing the phrase, “Fuck off,” Mikasa turned back to Annie. _Yep_ , Jean smiled, _she wants me_. He put his hands behind his head and leaned back against the torn black leather of the bench seat.

This trip was going to be awesome. Washington, D.C. was the ideal field trip. All of the monuments and pillars and hidden alcoves – the perfect places to sweet talk Mikasa into a date. When he signed up for the trip, Jean did so because he knew she was going and he knew Mr. Levi didn’t give two shits about boys and girls rooming together. Jean Kirschtein was about to get himself some. He was the star of the basketball team and the beefiest guy on the bus, what wasn’t there for Mikasa to love? _This girl is gonna be wrapped around my finger_ , Jean encouraged himself, dozing off into an early-trip nap.

 -

Marco

Being used as a human pillow wasn’t exactly what Marco had in mind when he decided to sit with Jean. He thought he would be nice and scoot over for the poor guy once Mikasa turned him down in favor of Annie Leonhardt. Now Marco found himself slightly squished against the smudged window while Jean was probably dreaming of all the ways he could seduce Mikasa. Sure, Jean was a total asshat 80% of the time, and, yeah, he probably only remembered Marco’s name since they were all forced to wear “Hello, my name is ____” stickers thanks to their quirky bus driver and science teacher, Ms. Hanje, but Marco still thought Jean had some redeeming qualities. After all, the jock had stopped some of the basketball team to stop bullying him for being in the theater club back in sophomore year, and Marco had never forgotten. He was fine to be stuck up against the side of the bus, so long as he had his headphones loud enough and the air conditioner kept working.

Marco awoke later to find that they had stopped. He looked at his phone and realized that he’d been asleep for an hour and a half and probably had bed head from sleeping against the window. Making sure that Jean didn’t notice – actually, all he probably noticed was how tight Mikasa’s jeans were today – he quickly licked his fingers and patted the stray hairs back down. His right arm was dead asleep from being stationary for so long and he tried to work the tingles out while listening to Mr. Levi speaking from the front of the bus.

“Alright, you little shits, listen,” the small history teacher spoke with a bored look, “we’re dropping off the bus at the hotel here and then walking to the subway. Please, for the love of god, don’t lose your subway pass because if you do, I will personally kick your ass.” He paused and made a point of staring down Connie Springer and Sasha Braus until they stopped whispering. “Today we will be touring the White House, Supreme Court building, and Smithsonian Museum. Under no circumstances is anyone allowed to split off from the group. Do I make myself clear, Mr. Springer?”

“Y-yes, sir!” Connie replied, cheeks reddened from Sasha’s fingers moving up and down his arm.

“Leave your things on the bus, we will unload them all later. Group up once you get off the bus and follow me. Ms. Hanje will be at the rear of the group making sure none of you get lost. Correct, Hanje?”

“Huh?” Hanje looked up from where she had been picking at her chipped nail polish, “Oh, of course, you bet!” she enthusiastically went back to clearing her fingers of the green paint.

Rubbing the bridge of his nose, Mr. Levi continued, “Right then, follow me.” He exited the bus, his head already gone from view by the time he reached the second step down, and waited impatiently in the parking lot. Jean stood up and pushed through to the front of the bus after Mikasa and Annie got up to exit, while Marco ended up being stuck at the back trying the gather up his headphones. Stepping down off the bus and joining the back of the group with Ms. Hanje, he followed after the rest of them and crossed the street to the subway.

**-**

Jean

Touring the capital city was better than Jean expected, if not only because he had a nice view of Mikasa the whole time. After Jean nearly got lost on the subway, only to have Marco Bodt help him, they all started touring the city. They had to wait outside the White House for about an hour, since it was the middle of spring and several schools were also taking field trips to the capital city. Jean spent the first part of the wait thinking about ways to talk to Mikasa. Damn, she looked good today. However, Jean was getting incredibly bored by the end of the hour and had forgotten about her almost entirely. “Ugh,” he complained, “Can’t they just kick some people out and let us in?”

Armin piped up from next to him, “No, Jean, that would be rude. We all have to wait our turn-”

“I know that, Arlert,” he cut him off, glaring, “I’m just saying that I would like to go inside sometime today.” He said the last part a little more audibly, hoping the guard at the front would hear. After another ten minutes, their group was accepted inside and the tour began. Jean spent his time looking at the different rooms, trying to find secret corridors, and getting yelled at for touching the silk wallpaper. It was cool at first, but Jean started getting antsy again after about 20 minutes. He decided to put his headphones in and tune out the tour guides. Later on, after taking some pictures where the uptight security guards would let them and actually giving a shit about what the tour guide had been saying for the last five minutes of the tour, they left the White House. Jean’s feet were already killing him and he couldn’t wait to sit down. Unfortunately for him, the day was still young and there were more places to see. When they arrived at the Supreme Court building, Jean had already decided he didn’t really care. He was tired of waiting and the sun was too bright - it was glaring off the white stone steps leading up to the building and it was giving him a headache There was a Greek god or something sitting at the side of the steps before the entrance, but he couldn’t remember which one it was and didn’t really care enough to listen to Mr. Levi’s description. As they got to the security check, the group was stopped by some of the guards.

“Hold on, we can’t just let a bunch of teenagers go through unsupervised, are there any adults in your group?”

Mr. Levi retained a surprisingly cool tone in answering, “Yes, sir. I’m the chaperone; I’m 34 years old and the history teacher at Trost High.”

The guards looked at each other and then back at Mr. Levi before continuing, “Right. Well, we’ll need to see some identification first before we take your word on it.”

The little teacher’s face boiled red, “Listen, if you don’t let me through-”

Ms. Hanje butt in not a moment too soon, “Here’s my i.d., officers. I do believe everything is in order. I’m sorry that my associate here caused such a scene, he’s just tired from all the walking today - you know, little legs and all.” She finished with a dazzling smile that may have just saved Mr. Levi’s ass.

“Of course, Miss. Go right on ahead,” the bigger guard on the left said. Then pointing to Mr. Levi he continued, “But you better keep your ‘associate’ here in line, or he may be asked to wait outside, understood?”

“Oh yes, of course, sir! Thank you so much! Come along, Levi!” Ms. Hanje grabbed the tiny terror by the arm and tugged him inside. He looked ready to kill her but didn’t argue.

Jean was trying his best to hold in a laugh when Mikasa thumped him on the head, “Hey, that’s my uncle. Show him some respect.”

Jean sobered up and followed her in, eyes shifting lower to get a better view of her assets. She was always hotter when she was angry. During the course of the tour, Jean’s interest in the building diminished as his interest in Mikasa was rekindled. He was really getting bored with the place and there she was - a distraction. She was so hot, like, really hot, and Jean wanted nothing more than to push her up against one of those pillars and-

“Kirschtein!” rang a voice from the front of the group, “Get your ass back over here!” It was Mr. Levi, shattering Jean’s daydream and bringing him back to reality. He had gotten separated from the group and Annie Leonhardt was trying not to snort from laughter at Jean getting reprimanded. Jean sullenly took his place back in the group as they continued on with the tour.

He put in his headphones to listen to his warmup playlist for games and didn’t take them out until they got to the Smithsonian.

It was a pretty sweet museum if a collection of pretty rocks and now-extinct animals were your thing. He spent some time in the marine animal section looking at all the weird-ass squids and jellyfish and even more time in the Origins of Man section - one of the little neanderthals was naked and you could see its junk. Jean found this hilarious and took a picture, he decided that he would save it to sneak into the trip video that Ms. Hanje would be making for the school once they got back. He spent some time reading different plaques and trying to retain what he could before he got bored again. After going through all of the exhibits fairly quickly, he decided to chill by the huge elephant display in the main lobby. A familiar laugh echoed from across the room and he turned to see Mikasa with the person who seemed to be attached to her hip, Annie. Why did Annie hate him so much? It’s not like he ever did anything wrong to her. Maybe she was jealous of his good looks? Regardless, he would never know since she didn’t really give him the time of day. As the two girls got closer, Jean had an idea. Why not ask Mikasa out? He wondered. It’s a big city, surely there’s something here we can do together. Building up his courage, Jean called her over, “Hey, Mikasa! Over here!” The two girls paused for a minute and Mikasa whispered something to Annie before walking over to him.

“Hey, Jean…” she replied, looking troubled.

“Hey, so I was thinking, maybe the two of us could go get some dinner or something later. You know, alone,” Jean was sure she’d say yes, I mean why wouldn’t she?

The color drained from Mikasa’s face and she paused for a beat before answering, “Look, Jean, I don’t think this is the best time. And plus we aren’t supposed to leave the group.”

“What do you mean, ‘not the best time’? We’re in a beautiful city together, let’s sneak out and have some real fun. Come on, Little Levi doesn’t have to know.” Jean reached out a hand to put on her shoulder but she sidestepped it. Jean’s face fell. “What? What did I say?”

Mikasa sighed, “It’s a nice gesture but I’m not looking to be in a relationship right now, sorry.”

As she turned to walk away, Jean called back, “Hey! Wait! What are you talking about? I just wanted to hang out with you.”

“Jean, that’s sweet, but I don’t-“

“Bullshit.”

Mikasa raised an eyebrow, “Excuse me?”

“I said bullshit. This whole trip I’ve just wanted to talk to you and you keep blowing me off. Why?”

“Why?” she repeated, adding an edge to her voice, “I don’t want to talk to you because you’re an ass. You walk around the school expecting girls to just be all over you and you act like you’re better than everyone else. And then you just gawk at me the whole trip and follow me around like a puppy! It’s weird, Jean.” She started to walk away and then paused to say, “Oh, and by the way, right under the giant elephant asshole isn’t the best place to try and pick up girls.” Turning away again, Mikasa walked back to Annie with a huff and high fived the hand Annie held out. The blonde winked at Jean and followed Mikasa down the exhibit corridor. Jean’s day had just started to suck a lot more than he thought.

**-**

Marco

D.C. was amazing! All the history, all the beautiful architecture, Marco was in love. Being at the back of the pack, he found himself talking to Ms. Hanje. She wasn’t as weird as everyone always said – she had her quirks alright – but overall, she was a sweet lady. They talked all through the white house tour, Marco soaking in everything the tour guide said and Ms. Hanje snapping pictures of anything and everything.

Between the White House and Supreme Court building they talked and talked about everything they loved in the city. It was strange, but maybe Marco had found himself a new favorite teacher. As they started touring the Supreme Court building, Marco noticed that instead of listening to Mr. Levi’s detailed description of the building’s origins, Jean was busy staring at Mikasa’s ass. The poor guy seemed to have no clue that she hated him and he was being a total creep about it. Still, the look he had on his face seemed innocent enough. Just as Jean started drifting behind, Mr. Levi saw him and yelled at him to come on and pay attention. Jean was obviously embarrassed and put in his headphones for the rest of the tour. Marco couldn’t help but feel bad for him. Near the end of the tour, a large group of men and women in uniforms of the different armed forces branches were walking down the main corridor. He didn’t know why they were there, but it seemed really cool that they were.

After taking a few pictures of them and touring the rest of the building, the group caught the subway once again and headed to their next destination: the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. Marco was most excited for this part of the trip. All of the animals and the history of mankind were what Marco loved to see. He stopped by the gift shop first and started looking through the children’s books they had. There was one about dragons which he seriously considered buying, and another about how the earth might be had humans evolved differently. One of the scenarios it depicted showed bizarre, giant humanlike creatures who terrorized cities and preyed on the actual humans. Marco flipped past that page quickly, a shiver going down his spine. Neglecting the dragon book in favor of a dragon backpack (it even had wings!), Marco transferred his wallet and other necessities into it and slung it over his shoulder. Marco decided to tour the rest of the museum. The exhibits were breathtaking, all of the different species that had gone extinct and the origins of man section interested him the most.

Nearing the end of the trip, Marco walked back to the main hall with the huge elephant. He pulled out his camera to take a picture when he noticed Jean and Mikasa arguing about something. He couldn’t hear what was going on, but Mikasa stormed off and Jean seemed to be pretty crestfallen. Jean sat down and put his head in his hands and Marco ventured over. “Jean?” he said, putting his hand on the other boy’s shoulder.

Jean lifted his head in surprise, “Oh, hey, Marco.”

“Can I sit down?” Marco asked tentatively.

“Sure,” Jean scooted over and made a motion of patting the bench next to him.

“I saw what happened between you and Mikasa, I didn’t overhear but it looked pretty rough.”

“Yeah, man. She basically called me out on my shit and then laughed at me with that bitch Annie.”

“Jean that isn’t-“

“Yeah, I know, I’m sorry. Annie’s not a bitch.  It’s just that I really like Mikasa, you know? And for her to just blow me off like that…” Jean just stopped mid-sentence, his silence speaking for him.

“Hey, cheer up. So what if she doesn’t like you? I mean, yeah, you are kind of an ass sometimes so not every girl will want to date you. But so what? There are other girls out there besides Mikasa Ackerman. And besides, you aren’t just an ass. Remember sophomore year? You stood up to those bullies for me when no one else did and I’ve never forgotten. You’ve always been nice to me, Jean.” Marco gave him a comforting smile and patted him on the back.

Jean didn’t answer for a moment and then lifted his head, a new light in his eyes, “You know what? You’re right. I don’t need her to be happy. I’ll be happy for myself. Thank you, Marco. I know we don’t talk much, but I’d like to think of you as my friend.”

Marco smiled, fully aware of how much of a nerd he was by grinning like an idiot while displaying his new backpack friend, “I would like that very much, Jean. Now come on, I’m going to buy you something from the gift shop to commemorate our friendship!” Marco grabbed Jean by the arm and pulled him back down the hall, smiling the whole time.

=

Jean

Later on in the evening, Mr. Levi took the group out to dinner. They stopped by a burger joint since Mr. Levi claimed that fine dining wasn’t within their budget. Having adorned the fucking amazing dragon hoodie which Marco insisted he buy to match his own dragon backpack (the thing had wings!), Jean plopped down into the seat next to the black-haired boy and made a point of not looking at Mikasa for the duration of the meal. Everyone at the table seemed to be deciding on who was rooming with who for the night since each room had only two beds. The rules were “no rooming with the opposite sex” but they all knew that Mr. Levi didn’t really give a shit since he hated them all anyway. Connie and Sasha had started pelting each other with fries when deciding who was sleeping on which side of the bed and the manager was almost called over. A sharp look from “Captain Levi”, as some of the kids had taken to calling him, silenced the two. Mikasa was rooming with Annie so even if Jean had wanted to, he probably wouldn’t have been able to convince Mikasa to let him room with her. Ymir and Historia along with Armin and Eren had all “coincidentally” ended up rooming together. Those gays got it easy. Jean found himself rooming with Marco by default, since neither of them had been asked by anyone else. Jean was alright with it now that the strange pair had become friends, but he still wished there had been someone for him to hook up with.

Jean found himself talking to Marco. They talked about everything; school, basketball, this totally awesome play that Marco was in. The way Marco’s eyes lit up when he talked about theater made Jean want to talk to him for hours. His chestnut eyes were warm and light and complimented his freckles wonderfully. Jean found himself smiling and laughing when Marco did, he couldn’t help it, the guy was practically puking joy all over the table. At one point he heard Mikasa speak to him, but he ignored her because Marco was just getting to the good part of the plot from the school play - a musical called Wicked. Marco was glad to listen to Jean as well. He was perfectly nice, he paid attention to what Jean was saying as if it were the most important thing in the world at the time. Jean really was glad to have spent the time with him that day at the museum. When Marco was done, Jean noticed he had hardly eaten all of his fries and they had grown cold. He was so busy speaking to Marco that he had completely forgotten them.

After finishing the meal, Historia begged Ms. Hanje (because who could resist such an adorable face?) who then begged Mr. Levi to go on a moonlit tour of the city. He reluctantly agreed and Sasha and Historia cheered and hugged each other. Once they got to the tour trolley, Jean found himself again paired with Marco. They sat in the front so Jean wouldn’t have to look at Mikasa for the whole time. The tour consisted of several different monuments they never would have had time to see, all of which were beautifully lit against the black backdrop. Jean found himself falling in love with the city almost more than Marco seemed to have. He wished he could stay in this moment for a while longer - it truly was the highlight of his trip. But the tour came to an end within the course of an hour and they all shuffled off the trolley and back onto the subway. Jean was so tired of people not knowing how to ride the subway - he had already caught Historia twice and Armin once from falling out into the aisle. Mr. Levi had to sit the whole time, considering the fact that he couldn’t reach the bars. Finally, they made it back to the hotel and Jean couldn’t be happier.

**-**

Marco

Jean had put on his new dragon hoodie right away and Marco was ecstatic. “It looks great on you! Plus, it’s nice to see those god-awful pink shirts covered up.”

Jean smiled, “Thanks, Marco, your dragon backpack doesn’t look too bad on you either, in fact, I’m kind of jealous.” Jean punched Marco’s arm playfully and Marco looked away quickly, a smile broadening on his face.

“Thank you, Jean, I really like it.”

After the Smithsonian, Mr. Levi took everyone out to eat at a nice little burger shop. Walking next to Ms. Hanje, Marco got to hear her talk crap about the other teacher. “Yeah, a burger joint. Thanks, Levi, buddy. You’re so generous. The only reason we’re going here is because he went and bought some liquor while you guys were at the museum and now we have to balance out the budget.” Marco noticed that Mr. Levi did happen to be carrying a suspicious paper bag with him.

Upon arrival, Marco found himself with Jean once again. The two seemed to have become a pair since the whole elephant incident, and Marco was just fine with that. He was fine to be friends with Jean. Jean was always nice to him and having a jock for a friend could come in handy again. That’s all they would be though - just friends. Even though Jean was handsome enough and despite being pan himself, Marco knew Jean “No Homo” Kirschtein didn’t get the name for nothing. After ordering, everyone was deciding on roommates. All the couples roomed together – Ymir and Historia, Eren and Armin, Sasha and Connie, and Mikasa and Annie who, even though they weren’t out of the closet, everyone but Jean seemed to know about. Marco found himself rooming with Jean, a definite plus, this way they could talk more and maybe still be able to talk some at school once they got back from this one-day trip.

Jean seemed to be ignoring Mikasa completely, which Marco was sure she was thankful for, but it still hurt Marco to see Jean like this. He tried to talk to him throughout the meal and get her off Jean’s mind and it seemed to be working at least somewhat. They talked about school and Jean’s recent win against the Ragako Raccoons – a truly embarrassing and ill-thought name in Marco’s opinion – while Marco explained the spring play to Jean. They were doing a musical called Wicked since it was the drama teachers favorite and Marco was cast for the part of Boq the Munchkin (most likely the tallest munchkin in Munchkinland). Jean seemed to be truly interested in what Marco had to say, and before Marco knew it, his cheeseburger had gotten cold from talking so much. Jean kept listening, though, and contributing to the conversation where necessary. It was so easy for Marco to talk to Jean, he felt like they’d been friends for years.

Since Historia sucked up to him, Mr. Levi decided to take them on a moonlit tour of the grand city. Marco could hardly contain himself – this is what he had been hoping to do the whole time. Jean insisted that they sit at the front of the trolley for the tour and Marco assumed it was due to Mikasa. He agreed and the two spent the next hour watching the city in wonder. Marco’s favorite part was when they drove briefly past the Arlington National Cemetery and he could see all the rows of buried soldiers. He also liked to see all of the monuments and important buildings illuminated by light from the ground before them. Halfway through, they stopped at the Lincoln Memorial. Sasha and Connie were sliding down the smooth surfaces on the sides of the steps which were out of Mr. Levi’s line of sight - he was around the corner drinking from the paper bag Hanje had told Marco about earlier. Walking in after Jean, Marco noticed how transfixed he was by the giant Abraham Lincoln statue.

“I heard that if you look correctly, you can see a face in the back of Lincoln’s head,” Armin stated.

“I bet you can’t,” called Jean from a few feet away.

“What? Yes you can!” Armin replied, his brow furrowing.

Jean just laughed and turned to Marco, “I love messing with him; I guess I really am an ass.”

Marco smiled and agreed with him.

At the end of the tour, Mr. Levi paid for everything and even left the driver a tip – he was either feeling unusually generous or just tipsy. The gang all gathered back together and walked to the subway where they once again rode back to the station across from the hotel. Marco was finally learning to hold onto the pole when the subway car stopped so he wouldn’t fly into anyone anymore.

-

Jean

Back at the hotel, Mr. Levi and Ms. Hanje instructed everyone to unload the bus, “Even you, Springer!” yelled Mr. Levi. The hotel inside was very nice. There was a city gift shop right inside the door next to the reception desk and a quaint dining room intended for breakfast down the hall. Mr. Levi checked everyone in and passed out room keys. Everyone traded into their groups and boarded the two elevators.

“Room 307,” Connie said.

“I feel sorry for whoever’s room is next to theirs,” whispered Ymir to Historia.

Jean quickly checked his own room key. 309, Jean noticed, fuck. Jean and Marco were in for a long night. After exiting the elevator, luggage in tow, everyone headed for their rooms. Connie and Sasha walked next to Jean and Marco until they noticed they were rooming next to each other, “Oh hell yeah, Kirschtein,” said Connie who was holding up his hand which Jean reluctantly high fived, “I hope you two brought some earplugs; this one’s a screamer.”

Sasha’s face went beet red and she slapped Connie across the face, “What the hell, you asshole!”

Connie laughed and opened the door, using his arm to unsuccessfully block his face from more blows, “Later, boys,” he said, winking, and dragged Sasha through the door.

Jean sighed and opened his own door, stepping aside for Marco, “Ladies first,” he grinned.

“Why, sir, I’m flattered!” replied Marco in his best Southern Belle voice, “Let me just gather up my dressin’s and such and I’ll be on my way. You can carry the rest of my things – too much heavy lifting for a lady like myself.”

Jean just stared at Marco for a good five seconds before snorting with laughter and grabbing the bags, “Whatever, Bodt,” was all he said.

**-**

Marco

The first thing Marco did when he entered the hotel room was go into the bathroom to take a shower. He looked into the mirror and thought to himself, _Dear god, Marco, that was the stupidest thing you could’ve said_. Deciding to move on, Marco shook his head to clear the embarrassment and started stripping off his clothes. He sat the dragon backpack he’d bought from the museum, which he had named Sheldon, carefully on the toilet lid; he didn’t want it getting wet on the floor. He stood before the mirror again, this time naked, but the mirror only showed from the waist up – good thing too, he wouldn’t want to embarrass Sheldon. In the mirror he looked at all of his freckles, he used to hate them and think they made him ugly, but since he entered high school he had come to love himself for who he was and accept his freckles. All 10,982 of them. He’d counted them once when he was young. Marco got in the shower and started practicing for the school musical - he couldn’t let his pipes get rusty! The water was nice and hot but the bar soap left Marco’s skin feeling dry. Thank goodness for complimentary hotel lotion, he thought to himself as he lathered up after the shower. Upon exiting the bathroom he stopped mid-step. There was only one bed. Jean saw the look on Marco’s face and answered, “I know, man. I know. I don’t like it either but unless you want to sleep in the chair, I’m not sure what to do.”

“No,” replied Marco, his face hopefully not turning red from the thought of sharing a bed with Jean, “this will be fine with me. Just don’t do anything weird during the night,” he joked.

“Dude,” Jean replied, his tone serious, “I’m not gay. Don’t worry.”

“Right,” Marco said, clearing his head of the thoughts his subconscious had so nicely attacked him with.

“Oh, you probably want to get dressed don’t you?” Jean asked, indicating Marco’s toweled self, “I was actually about to take a shower myself, so I’ll give you some privacy.” Jean gathered his things and walked into the bathroom.

Marco quickly threw on his pajamas, vividly aware of how naked he just was in front of Jean. Sure, he still had a towel, but that didn’t mean he was comfortable enough to have Jean see him like that. He decided to turn on the TV to the FRIENDS reruns that played every night. It felt nice to relax after a long day.

**-**

Jean

Jean looked at himself in the mirror and flexed. His muscles were nice and toned from working out for basketball season. Just as he was doing his “Mr. Universe” pose, he looked down and saw Marco’s backpack. “That dork,” he smiled, picking it up. He was thoroughly glad to have befriended Marco, the guy was a nerd, but Jean needed someone like him to talk to. It was so easy for them. Jean sat the dragon backpack back down on the toilet and hopped in the shower. The water stayed scalding hot and Jean stayed in for as long as he could. He remembered to bring his own shampoo since it was for color-treated hair. His shock of blond hair at the top of his head wasn’t natural, he had been dying it for as long as he could remember.

Jean cut the water off after about 40 minutes, dried off, and walked out of the bathroom. When he walked out he was checking his phone and heard something that sounded like Marco choking. He looked up to see 1.) Marco indeed choking, and 2.) a box of cheez-its now spilled all over the bed. He ran over, “Marco? Hey, man are you okay? Oh shit.” He started panicking and thumped Marco hard on the back.

Marco finally swallowed the cheez-it and took a deep breath. “Yeah, yeah, I’m okay.” His face was redder by the second and he looked away from Jean.

“Well, dude, what happened?” Jean was genuinely concerned.

“It’s just that- well, it’s- um,” Marco couldn’t talk straight, so he just pointed in the direction of Jean’s waist.

Jean looked down, confused, but then it dawned on him, “Oh, Marco, shit man, I’m sorry!” He quickly grabbed a pair of boxers and put them on. “I’m just so used to the basketball team that I didn’t even think about it. Look, see? It’s okay now.”

“Oh, okay, yeah it’s cool, I’m fine now, Jean,” Marco was still averting his gaze when he realized the mess all over the bed. “Oh no, I’m sorry. There’s gonna be cheese everywhere now,” Marco tried furiously to wipe the orange dust off the bed.

Jean smiled and laughed, “Dude, it’s okay, I’ll be fine,” he got on the bed next to Marco and grabbed the remote. “Is there anything good on?”

“No, not really. I’ve just been channel surfing.”

Jean flipped through the channels, not finding anything, “Whatever, man, we can just go to bed early and be ready for tomorrow?”

“Sounds like a good idea.”

Jean turned off the TV and got up to turn off the lamp on his side of the bed when he heard something that made him wish he had lost his hearing. “Marco, is that what I think it is?”

“If what you were thinking was Connie and Sasha fucking in the next room over, you would be right.”

Jean immediately turned the TV back on and turned the volume up loud enough to drown out Sasha’s screams and Connie’s grunting. They watched TV for another 30 minutes until they thought it was safe and then tried again. It was silent this time. “Oh, thank god,” Jean sighed in relief, “I thought they’d never stop.”

“You gotta give it to Connie though,” replied Marco,” he seems to really know what he’s doing.”

“Uh, right,” Jean turned off the lights and got ready for bed. “I hope you don’t mind that I’m in my boxers, I usually sleep naked but I figured I’d spare you.”

“Oh, thank you then,” the room fell silent. “Well, good night, Jean.”

“Sleep tight, bro.”

-

Marco

Marco had dreamt he was the president. He had a nice turkey as his running mate and they had won by a landslide. He was ecstatic! The first law he put into act was the dragon backpack ordinance, it stated that every person was required by law to wear their very own dragon backpack at all times. Just as he was giving his speech on healthcare, he woke up.

As he came to, Marco noticed something odd: his back was a lot warmer than it would have been from his own body heat. Something more than the sheets was wrapped around him. Marco’s heart began it’s very own Indy 500 because he just realized Jean was spooning him. _Oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god. What the hell do I do now?_ Marco was frantic but he didn’t dare move – if he did and Jean woke up he might think he’d snuggled up on purpose. Marco just laid there; from his position he was acutely aware of how warm Jean was, how soft his breathing was, how strong the arm wrapped around him was. He was so hella scared that something would happen and wake Jean up and Jean would think he was a freak or something. So he laid there, he laid there and prayed to all the gods that Jean would move. Then again, it was kind of nice to have Jean there. The room was a little cold and Marco was thankful for the extra body heat. Jean’s torso was pretty easy to fit into. Maybe if he just dozed off, no one would know.

**-**

Jean

Jean was going in for a layup, but he missed! The final buzzer sounded and he had just lost his team the game. Suddenly, Everyone in the crowd started throwing basketballs at him. He woke just as the first one hit. He was hardly aware of his surroundings, this wasn’t his bed and… this wasn’t his body pillow. At all. He realized he was spooning Marco, _Oh fuck_ , he thought, _what do I do now_? He didn’t want to move, he figured he would wake Marco and Marco would realize what was happening. Jean laid there and felt so wrong. I shouldn’t be spooning Marco, why the hell am I spooning Marco? This is so bad.

Jean laid there for the next few minutes. It wasn’t so bad after the initial shock. He still definitely wasn’t moving so he wouldn’t wake Marco, but it was actually kind of nice. Marco’s slightly smaller body fit to his and his breathing was so rhythmical, Jean could almost just go back to sleep.

Jean was jolted alert by a gasp from Marco and he quickly realized why.

Jean was still spooning him.

And he had a goddamn boner.

“Fucking hell!” Jean jumped out of the bed and grabbed a pillow to cover himself.

“Jean, it’s okay, you were asleep, it’s not-“

“Dude, I am so sorry, I promise I’m not gay. I promise.”

“I never said you were, Jean. It could happen to anyone.”

“Yeah, but- but I- I wasn’t exactly asleep.”

Marco stared at Jean in the dark, “You what?”

Jean sighed and ruffled his hair, “I woke up and realized we were, well, you know-“

“Spooning?” offered Marco.

“Yeah, that. And I didn’t want to move so I wouldn’t wake you, and I don’t know, it was kind of nice so I just laid there. And I guess I fell back asleep and now here we are.”

“Jean, to be honest, I wasn’t really asleep either. I woke up earlier to you spooning me and I didn’t move so I wouldn’t wake you either.”

“Does that mean we were both awake then?”

“I think it does.”

“Well, shit, I’m sorry, man.”

“No don’t be sorry,” replied Marco, “to tell you the truth, it actually wasn’t so bad. Not to be weird or anything.”

“No, you’re right, I agree with you. I did like it, I mean I obviously did or Little Jean wouldn’t have been so happy to see you.”

Marco grinned, “Yeah, that is true.”

By then, Little Jean had gone back into hiding and Jean could put down the pillow he was holding. _Well, fuck, what do I do now_? Jean thought to himself. He figured maybe he could get Marco’s mind off the subject, “So, Marco, how’d you enjoy the trip?” he asked, searching for anything of value to say.

“Oh, it was great! I really liked the Smithsonian.”

“Yeah, I bet you did,” Jean had to keep it going, “anything in particular that you liked about it?”

“Well, the Origins of Man exhibit was pretty cool.”

“Yeah, dude, I liked that one! There was even one of those monkey people on display and he had his dick out, it was hilarious,” the smile suddenly fell from Jean’s face as he remembered what had happened concerning his own dick just a few minutes ago, “I mean, uh, yeah, that exhibit was nice, I guess.”

Marco just smiled.

“Look, man, I hope this whole thing hasn’t made it weird for you. I mean, I’ll sleep in the floor if you want me to.”

“No,” Marco said, shaking his head slightly, “you don’t have to do that.”

“Okay, cool, cool.”

There was a moment of silence as Jean tried to think of something else to say. Before he could, however, Marco cut in, “You know, actually, there’s something I’ve been wanting to tell you. I figure now is as good of a time as any.”

“Sure, man, go ahead.”

Marco took a deep breath, “Well, to tell you the truth, I’ve kind of had a crush on you since the tenth grade.” Jean was silent, so Marco took that as an excuse to keep going, “I wasn’t going to tell you, but now I don’t see why I should keep it from you anymore. I mean, we already got to second base, so why not? I remember the first time I noticed my feelings back in tenth grade, I was the nerdy theater kid and you were the star of the basketball team. Your friends were picking on me, but you stood up for me when you didn’t even know me. I knew you though, I never forgot that day and I’ve always been thankful for it. I’ve never said anything these two years because you’re obviously straight so I’m not even sure why I’m saying it now. But, Jean, after spending today with you, I really do like you. I know you don’t feel the same, but I just wanted to tell you.”

Jean heart was beating fast in his chest. He didn’t know what to say. He sat back down on the bed. “Thank you, Marco. Thank you for telling me all of this. Truth is, I remember that day too. I remember seeing those kids make fun of you and it hurt me. It hurt for me to think of you going through that, so I just did what I thought best. And I’ve never really forgotten you either, I may not have known your name but I did know your face.” Jean laid back down in the bed, his face next to Marco’s. “Today made me think a lot. I’ve been so blind for the past year and a half focusing on Mikasa, she’s so pretty and smart – exactly what I wanted. But now, now I’m not sure. You showed me she would never care about me like I want her to, and maybe, maybe she isn’t what I need. Maybe it’s something else – someone else.”

Marco stayed quiet for a moment, “Who is it? Another girl from school?”

“No, Marco, not another girl from school. Today has made me happier than I’ve been in a long time. Maybe what I was missing out on, Marco, was you.”

“Jean, I don’t-“

Marco was cut short by a kiss from Jean. He was so stunned, he didn’t know what to do.

“I-I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that I-“

Marco grabbed Jean’s face and kissed him back. This kiss was longer and deeper. Jean’s brain turned to mush and his heart did gymnastics in his chest. This was a real kiss, and he liked it.

Marco pulled away first and looked into Jean’s eyes. “Well, I guess they can’t call you Jean “no homo” Kirschtein anymore, can they?”

Jean smiled to himself. “No, I guess they can’t,” he said before kissing him again.

Jean’s heart was beating faster and faster - he wasn’t exactly as experienced in the bedroom as he might let on. Marco’s lips tasted so good and Jean was realizing what he needed all along was right here. He rolled over on top of Marco, their bodies moving together in perfect sync, the sheets getting all tangled in their long legs. Marco then took it upon himself to guide Jean’s fingers to the buttons of the flannel pajama top he was wearing. Jean found himself struggling with the buttons and eventually just pulled the shirt over the other boy’s head.

Marco laughed, “Easy, Kirschtein, that’s expensive,” he said, wriggling out of the matching bottoms.

“Shut the hell up and kiss me, Marco,” was Jean’s breathy reply.

Marco did as he was told. He rolled Jean back over and started kissing his mouth, then his neck, and slowly down his chest and stomach. Jean shivered from the tenderness of Marco’s lips. Marco pulled down at the edges of Jean’s boxers and Jean went still as he realized what was about to happen.

“Marco, I don’t know if-”

“If what? Do you not want me to?”

“No, no. I never said that! It’s just that, you know, what if they hear us next door?”

“Well, as long as you keep your mouth shut we won’t have to worry about that.” Marco went back to work with Jean’s boxers, slowly sliding them down and off his legs. Jean clutched at the bedsheets as Marco started to kiss him again, only this time in a much more sensitive area. The kisses soon turned to more as Little Jean made a reappearance. “Damn, I’ve got my work cut out for me here,” Marco smiled, teasing him. Marco brought his head back down between his legs and Jean arched his back in response.

After a few more minutes of what had been heaven for him, Jean spoke up, “M-M arco, I think I’m about to-”

“Oh no you don’t, I’m not done with you yet.” Marco moved from Jean and to the dresser, retrieving the condom from Jean’s wallet.

“Hey, how did you know-”

“Jean, I’m not an idiot,” Marco gave no further explanation. Opening the packaging and getting back on the bed, Marco tossed the condom to Jean, “Here, you can do the honors. Just don’t rip it, I don’t have another.” Jean fumbled to catch it and managed to actually put it on correctly, at least sex ed class was coming in handy. Marco got back on top of Jean and straddled his hips. His mouth smashed back into Jean’s, while he grinded on Jean with his ass. This Marco was completely different from the Marco who’d dragged him into the museum gift shop to buy a souvenir dragon hoodie earlier - not that Jean was complaining about it. Just as Jean was nice and hard again, Marco got off the top of him. He gestured to his own boxer briefs and instructed Jean to slide them off. Jean did as he was told and before he could sit back, Marco put a hand of the back of his head, “Not so fast,”

Jean placed his head between Marco’s tanned thighs and followed as Marco led him to, repeating what he’d seen Marco do to him earlier. “That’s it, Jean. Just like that.”

He soon got used to the task and actually came to enjoy himself. Once he finally started to get into it, Marco had him stop and laid down on his back, “Okay, I’m ready.”

Jean got back on top of Marco and Marco helped guide him where he needed to be. As he moved in and out, being as gentle as he dared, Marco laughed, “Come on, let’s see what you’ve got.” Jean took this as encouragement and thrust harder and faster than before. “There we go,” was all Marco had to say. Marco felt so much more amazing than Jean thought. He didn’t know it could be like this, he didn’t know what he’d been missing. Marco rolled over onto his stomach, now on his hands and knees. Jean kept going and Marco moved Jean’s hand to his own dick. Jean stroked Marco and Marco let out a slight moan, “More, Jean, more.” Jean did as he was told and pleasured Marco the best he knew how.

Jean’s breathing was heavy and he didn’t think he was going to last much longer, “Marco,” he whimpered, pulling out.

Marco turned around and pulled the condom off of Jean, replacing it with his mouth. Jean’s breath hitched as the night came to a crescendo. Marco had been stroking his own dick and came on Jean’s lean stomach shortly after. Jean brought Marco’s face up to his own and kissed him once again. The kiss was passionate and a perfect ending to the night’s events. Pulling away, Jean spoke up, “Marco, you seem to have quite a bit of experience.”

Marco brushed the hair from Jean’s face and just smiled, “Who said the band kids get to have all the fun?”

After cleaning up, Jean laid back down next to Marco in the bed, cradling him with his muscled arms. “Well, I hope this means we’re official, eh, Marco?”

“I don’t know, now that we got that out of the way, I could be done with you.”

Jean sat up in bed, “Marco…”

“Oh, would you lay back down, Jean? I’m just kidding - of course it means we’re official.”

“Good,” Jean said, a smile broadening his cheeks, “that’s all I want.” He kissed a cluster of freckles on Marco’s shoulder and drifted off to sleep.

-

Marco

The next morning, Marco woke to Jean spooning him once again. He smiled and hit him with a pillow, “Wake up, nerd. It’s breakfast time.”

Jean didn’t have to be told twice, he jumped out of bed and threw on some clothes before bolting out the door with Marco trailing his heels. Today was a great day for Marco, after his night last night he felt like he could do anything. As they got into the elevator, Marco just looked at Jean and Jean looked at him. They were both smiling as the doors opened and Sasha and Connie stood waiting.

“Hey, dickheads, who’s ready for some breakfast?” yelled Connie, pumping a fist in the air.

Jean and Marco stepped back from each other and neither could hide the redness of their cheeks.

Sasha and Connie just looked between the two of them. “Holy shit,” said Sasha.

“What?” Connie obliviously replied.

“Holy fucking shit!”

“What? What am I missing?” Connie whined.

“You two did it,” Sasha said, astonished.

“Did what??” Connie whined even louder.

“Marco Bodt. You mean to tell me that you fucked Mr. “No Homo” himself?”

“Wait... what?” Connie said, even more confused than ever.

“Look, Sasha, we didn’t-“

“Oh, but you did! You guys totally shoved your man bananas up each other’s-“

“Sasha!” Jean said, “That’s enough, stop it.”

“Alright, lover boy,” Sasha smiled, exiting the now open elevator.

All during breakfast, Marco couldn’t stop smiling, he was sure more than Sasha and Connie caught on. He and Jean sat close the whole time, talking in low voices to each other, he hoped Jean wasn’t uncomfortable. The breakfast was good: waffles and cereal. Marco wanted seconds but Mr. Levi was rounding everyone up for the bus ride home. “Alright, come on, everyone, pack all your things and be down here by ten,” Mr. Levi looked a tad hungover today. Marco just smiled and finished his toast.

-

Jean

On the bus ride home, Jean couldn’t help but think about the whole trip. He thought about the ride up when he was obsessed with Mikasa, the first half of the tour when he was obsessed with Mikasa, daydreaming about Mikasa, and he realized that before she turned him down, he wasn’t really paying attention to the things around him. He didn’t care about the trip or the things going on – just her. But when he met Marco, everything changed. With Marco, everything was fun. He actually learned and thoroughly enjoyed himself. The moonlit tour was Jean’s favorite part – a part that was very special for him and Marco. And the night before. Last night was the last thing Jean expected – he was straight! Wasn’t he? It all felt so right, maybe he just never thought about it until now.

Jean looked down at Marco. He was snuggled up in the crook of Jean’s arm, with that dragon backpack, Sheldon, clutched in his arms. He was smiling even while he slept. Jean smiled to himself and looked out the window. He saw fields and trees and streams – all things to show him how beautiful life really was. He didn’t really know what to think; all he knew was that Marco was here and he cared for him, and that’s all he had really ever wanted.

 

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first ever Jeanmarco fanfiction that I've written, so I expect to be added to the trash bin that is the Jeanmarco fanbase.  
> I wrote this from an AU post I found on tumblr and it turned out better than I imagined.  
> Thanks for reading!  
> My tumblr url is the same as this url, so feel free to hit me up there!
> 
> Also, I gifted this work to my fantastic beta, giwp! Go check out her page or else.  
> (giwp's tumblr: mamaarachne)


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